The whole political-media world has gone bananas since Ted Cruz accused Donald Trump of having “New York Values”, then spent Friday glibly mock-apologizing for the charge.
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But with two weeks till the high-profile Iowa caucuses, and the two candidates just points apart in most polls of Republicans there, this week the gloves came off – culminating in a number of explosive exchanges between the two at Thursday’s debate over Cruz’s claim to USA citizenship and Trump’s “New York values”.
For months, Ted Cruz hugged Donald Trump so closely on substance and style that it was almost impossible to divine any ideological split between them.
Cruz has tried to downplay his error of omission, saying during Thursday night’s debate it was a paperwork error and the loan had been disclosed in a filing to Congress.
The Republican presidential front-runner connected the Canada issue to a new report about Cruz failing to disclose a second bank loan that he used to boost his 2012 Senate campaign.
Cruz reportedly suggested that Trump’s attacks came in response to a new poll that showed him losing in a head-to-head competition with the senator. He said, “Everyone understands that the values in New York City are socially liberal and pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage…” “I apologize to the millions of New Yorkers who have been abandoned for years by liberal politicians”, he told reporters late Friday.
Cruz added he was especially surprised that Trump would object to the idea of “New York values” because “he’s the one who laid out this analysis” in a 1999 TV interview. “Goldman Sachs owns him, he will do anything they demand”, he wrote. “And I think that’s very hypocritical”.
Mr Trump said the comments were “very insulting” and brought up the city’s response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Speaking to 250 people at Living History Farms in Iowa, he called the debate “interesting” and said “even the pundits last night were treating me nicely”. “He’s NY, and he’s got to talk about that”, he said.
In one particularly provocative Twitter post, Trump posted a photo of the ruins of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks and asked if that was the same NY that Cruz was knocking. “But I’m going to detail exactly what we’re going to do about it”, Rubio said. Cruz’s wife works for Goldman Sachs and secured a loan for as much as $500,000, secured by a brokerage account.
The reaction is coming in from the campaign trail. “Literally they were there when other buildings in the surrounding area they thought were going to fall and you had people working trying to help, the most horrific sites you’ve ever seen, trying to help do whatever they could”. “Well, this is what I can do”, Schwartz said. It was poignant. It was so good that even Ted Cruz had to applaud.
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“They know what lane they’re in and who they’re fighting”, said Chip Felkel, a Republican strategist in SC, which also will hold a primary next month.
